The Missing Piece
by LivinJgrl123
Summary: It's too bad that nothing stays buried forever. Not even the fact that Raven knows something is wrong, something is missing, can stay hidden away inside her mind. It would have done the world a favor if everyone could have just left her and what needed to stay buried alone. *A/U*
1. Chapter 1

**DISCLAIMER: Teen Titans.  
DISCLAIMER: Batman: Under the Red Hood.  
A/N: Okay. I know I've been writing lots of Raven stuff lately. And Red X. And frankly, I like adult (semi-crazy, who wouldnt?) Jason better than thief Jason because, well.. IDK. SO. In order for this gig to work, there was no Red X. CROSSOVER=COMPLICATED. Oh well  
Doesn't sound good? dont read. Do you live Raven/Jason? READ ON GOOD PEOPLE. THERE IS YOUR WARNING.  
I based this whole thing off of Under the Red Hood, so most things will line up with that storyline, because it sounds less complicated to me! lol.  
dont worry its much less confusing if you just read it... I promise! :D**

**Enjoy!**

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Chapter One

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Raven woke to the feeling of needles stuck in her body, and the lack of energy in her bones. Her eyes fluttered open, her throat was parched, and she felt strange, like she had been asleep for centuries.

What had happened?

Slowly, memories came back to her: she was running, chasing the Joker. He'd stabbed her with something... leaving her powerless. She gritted her teeth, remembering how weak she'd felt, remembering how she was unable to send the Joker back to Gotham, and more importantly, in Arkham Asylum, where he belonged.

His maniacal laughter rang in her ears as she stared up at a dotted ceiling. Was she in a hospital? It smelled like one. She tried lifting her head, but it felt too heavy to lift off the hard pillow. Yes, she was definitely in a hospital.

But for how long?

She blinked several times to get moisture back in her eyes and tried calling out, because she really wanted to turn her head and look at something other than the insides of her eyelids and the ceiling which was giving her headache. She tried calling out, but all that her vocal chords had to offer was a soft rasp that was barely audible, even to her mega-sensitive hearing which had increased over time.

Raven briefly thought about the Titans, and what had happened. She focused on her muddled memories: laughter, a point of a syringe entering her leg, the feeling of being drain, which had been excruciating, and then darkness, after something hitting her back in the head which had opened the trap door that dropped her into nothingness. Taking on the Joker, alone, had been suicidal, she scolded herself, trying to swallow, but only succeeded in choking on her own dry throat. Her coughing racked her body, and it shook violently as she tried to wet her mouth. Maybe a few days, she'd been out of it? No more than a couple, she guessed. When she tried to sit up, her body wouldn't coöperate.

Giving out a raspy call for help, she felt her eyelids drooping, and struggled to stay conscious, trying to grasp something that she couldn't quite reach.

Raven knew she was forgetting something, something very important and crucial to her very existence. It felt as if a huge chunk of her had been recently ripped out of her very soul. What could it possibly? Was it the medication she was getting from the hospital?

Trying to raise her hands, she failed. She attempted to lift her head, to see if she was truly alone in this stark white room. The beeping of the heart monitor was slowly increasing, and seeing it out of the corner of her eye made it speed up. What was wrong with her? Her heart felt a sudden, unexpected pang of sorrow, and it hurt so badly that she felt as if her heart was weighing her down.

Was she dreaming? She bit her lip: dry, but real. She bit it hard, until she tasted blood in her mouth. It ran down her tongue and down the back of her throat, making her cough and sputter, but it got her mouth working again. She managed to lift her head a bit and saw that stiff plastic sheets covered her petite, deathly pale body. Against the wall opposite wall were four chairs.

And they were all filled with sleeping Titans.

She tried to work her vocal cords again, and succeeding this time in coughing loudly enough that Beast Boy stirred.

"Beast Boy," she tried.

Only her raspy breathing met her ears. She tried again, seeing Starfire, Robin—no, _Nightwing_—Cyborg, and the green young man all sleeping soundly, resting against each other's shoulders, snoring here and there.

"Kori!" she tried. The aliens stirred in her sleep. "Dick!" Nothing from him. She snorted, and it only resorted in more coughing that made her throat feel like it was being torn to shreds from the inside. Of course Robin wouldn't hear her; he had his arm around his girlfriend and looked peaceful, yet upset at the same time. She tried remembering if she had contacted her teammates or not, but that part was a blank.

"Victor..." she tried. Cyborg blinked once, and fell back asleep. She needed one of them to know she was awake. She could feel herself slipping into a dark place, and she struggled to stay awake. One of them had to know she was okay.

She hadn't seen any of the Titans in over three months. Yes, they were a team, but ever since Dick had shed his Robin costume to hand it down to a Jason Todd, who had died five years ago, and he was only a few months younger than Raven, they had become independent, as she had put it herself. The others got their own places, had matured, and were traveling the world, stopping bad guys and getting glory. It was all good. They still got a long great. Raven was twenty-two, the youngest of the five. Although you would've never have guessed, because she had seemed, when a teen, to be the most matured out of them all.

They all looked the same, too, except for Nightwing of course. The team was taller, stronger, and smarter, much more than they had been as teens. They would always be the Titans, forever.

Raven should have contacted them for help, and she had gone off on her own. To face the _Joker_, of all people, _alone_, without them. She hadn't even notified anyone of her mission, not even Starfire, who she told anything about everything to.

But now here they all were, probably had been in the room with her since... well, when she had been knocked unconscious.

One last time, she tried.

"Garfield."

Beast Boy's eyes fluttered open, and to her elation, which made the heart monitor beep a little louder, he did not shut them.

She tried again to speak, but her head fell back down, and she went limp.

"Guys," she heard Beast Boy yell, and suddenly he was leaning over her, relief written all over his face. "Guys! She's awake!"

Raven's vision began to dim, and the voices and people around her faded into darkness.

The last thing she heard before she fell into unconsciousness was Cyborg yelling at Beast Boy, "go get a nurse, and then you can grab some food!:

Raven almost smiled as the rest of the world finally slipped away from her, leaving her to fall, powerless, into a vast nothingness.

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~ x ~

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**A/N: Thank you for reading, please review :)**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I am truly happy that this story got feedback. I mean I wasnt expecting much because i havent found a lot of crossovers that people have commented on or liked or anything like that... so, without further adue (if that is spelled wrong im not sorry haha) HERE IS CHAPTER TWO. :) it rhymed! im sucha genuisNOT. XD OH! I aim for chapters 1000 words OR LONGER. I need to stop have six lined chapters... lol.**

**Enjoy, good people!**

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Chapter Two

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Raven woke up to familiar voices.

"Should we still ask her?" she heard Nightwing asked as her senses slowly came back. She cracked her eyes open, and was glad to see someone had turned off most of the lights in her hospital room. She still found herself thinking of him as Robin, Boy Wonder, but mentally kicked herself. That one kid that she'd never met, the one who'd been killed by the Joker, claimed Dick's old title. And he would forever, unless Batman decided to get a new sidekick. Which didn't seem likely.

She sat up, slowly and carefully, wondering why she couldn't have moved before. Only a few weeks ago had she been in a room like this after crashing to the ground, because Scarecrow had managed to drug her with his fear toxin. Remembering that, she mentally frowned, imagining him in Arkham, where all the dangerous and insane were supposed to be.

"Friend Raven!" she was suddenly engulfed in a bone crushing hug, and this time did not struggled to get away from the alien who was hugging her so tightly she was wondering why she hadn't cracked a rib already.

"Good to see you, too, Star," Raven said, relieved that her friend let go of her. She rubbed her eyes and yawned. Her eyes found the rest of her team, all crowded around her bed. This time, she wasn't all that concerned with her personal space. She would be in a matter of time, but at the moment, it felt nice, being surrounded by her teammates, her friends.

Beast Boy grinned broadly at her, his pointy teeth sticking out. Cyborg was grinning, too. Nightwing looked very relieved, with his arm around a happy Starfire.

"You were out for a while there," Beast Boy told her as she sat back against the pillows, trying to work her powers. They were very weak, almost nothing. She would need to meditate to get them to work properly again, she thought. This meant she wouldn't be of much use for the next few hours.

"How long?" she asked, glancing at the clock, clearing her throat. It was only nine, and she somehow knew that it was night, even though in her room there weren't any windows, which bothered her. Windows let her know what went on outside, they let her powers reach out and find danger, if any were present. She felt confined, and wanted out. She'd heal in meditation for six hours if she had to; she just didn't want to be here. She moved to get up, but she found that she was both stiff and sore.

"A week," he answered. "You were in a coma. The doc said you were going to wake up in a day, but when you didn't... we all came here." Her eyes widened, but then she erased any shock or any other emotion they'd just seen on her face and had put on famous stoic mask that the rest of the world knew as Raven.

"The Joker poisoned you," Dick said, frowning at her with disapproval. "What were you thinking, going after him like that, alone?"

Raven glared at him. She could take care of herself. She said nothing. Instead, she swung her legs over the side of the bed, wincing as she did so. "Whoa, not so fast there," Cyborg said, laying a hand on her shoulder. She was shocked by how cold it was. It was then she noticed goosebumps were racing up and down her arms and legs, and she yanked herself away from him. She raised an eyebrow in question. "Raven, you plummeted sixty feet to the ground and hit your head as a bonus. I don't know if its just the pain meds, but I was certain that if you could feel the bump on the back of your head, you'd want to lay low for a couple days at least."

Raven gave him this look that made him step away. She drew her knees up to her chest, feeling naked without her cloak while clad in the hospital gown. She wanted her belt, she wanted her leotard, and she wanted her cloak.

Hospital gowns made her feel open, unreliable, and vulnerable, and she had sworn to herself long ago that she was _none_ of these things. She refused to be any of those things. It made her _weak_, something that she despised feeling.

"I can heal myself," Raven snapped, but made no move to get off the bed.

"Raven," Nightwing sighed, "you know you should call us for help. We're the Titans, remember? We're supposed to come to each other's aid."

"Reword that differently, and tell me what in another dimension, and see if I care," she hissed, rubbing her arms. "Why am I so cold?"

"The meds," Beast Boy answered. "Say, Robin, weren't you going to ask her something?"

"Not with those bruises on her I'm not," was the obvious reply. Raven, curious, peered down at herself and suppressed a gasp behind the stoic straight line that was her mouth. Bruises and cuts covered her legs and her arms. How come she hadn't noticed these before? The pain meds, she guessed. She shifted, and felt stiff around her middle. She pressed a hand to her belly and frowned. Someone had bandaged her up tightly there. Just how badly had she been hurt in the time that she had been out?

"I'm fine," she said, knowing full well that she wasn't in a ten-mile radius of the word _fine, _"just let me meditate and I'll be up and at it in no time!"

Starfire and Beast Boy shared a look. She knew that look. And it made her insides boil. "I can handle myself!" she said. If she wasn't so beat up and bruised, and not to mention _weak_, the room would be shaking with her rage. "The poison..." she shook her head, trying to grasp something through the haze of the drugs that weren't messing with her fully as they should have been. Anyone else would be rattling on, mumbling nonsense that would seem more insane than the Joker himself.

"It'll wear off soon," Cyborg assured her.

"Good, she said, "now what did you want to ask me, Nightwing?"

The eldest of the Titans shifted from one foot to the other, his arms now crossed over his chest. "I came here to ask for your help in something that's been bothering Batman."

Raven stayed silent, indicating he should continue.

"There's been this new guy in town, called the Red Hood. Have you heard of him?"

Raven nodded. "Yes. He's a drug lord, a murderer, and is taking forty-percent of profits from the drugs off the streets." That was all she knew, and she hadn't really cared when it had been announced on the news that a new crime lord had arisen to begin stealing another crime lord, Black Mask's, employees. "What about him? Are you having a hard time catching him?"

Dick simply shrugged. "Batman just wants my help, and he told me to ask you all. You're the only one who I haven't asked to do this, because of the state the Joker put you in." Raven could see his jaw clench and unclench: the Joker had murdered the second Robin, who had also been Nightwing's brother. But this was news to the sorceress.

"What state?" she asked, looking down at herself. "I wasn't able to fly, so I fell after being poisoned, didn't I?"

When none of them answered, she narrowed her eyes at her leader. "_Didn't_ I?" she repeated. Her voice was low, indicating that they should start watching what they said.

Her heavy heart was not leaving her. She couldn't figure it out; it was as if someone was sitting on her chest, having the intention to suffocate her or simply crush her to death. It was bothering her, and for some reason, she wanted to go to sleep and cry.

Cry?!

She mentally kicked herself again. Raven never cried. Never. Not once in her life had she cried over anything. _Never._

"No," Starfire said slowly, sitting next to her battered friend. In response, she scooted away, but did not shove her away, as the alien expected her to. The rest of the Titans were thinking the same things: the toxin hadn't worn off, or it was the pain meds. Because Raven more moody than usual. She looked like she could kill while simply giving one of them with a death glare. And Raven wasn't valuing her precious personal space bubble. Beast Boy faintly remembered "popping" her "bubble" more than once while they had still lived under the same roof. He wanted to grin at the memory, but this was not a matter to be grinning at.

"Friend Raven," she said, putting a hand on her shoulder, which Raven did not flinch or yank herself away from. The youngest Titan just sat on the bed, looking hostile, deadly, and exhausted. "You only received a broken finger from the fall." Raven glanced at her left ring finger and frowned at it; it was crooked, but otherwise healed. Figuring she must have healed it while in a coma, she disregarded it.

"Then... what about all these...?" Raven gestured with her hands.

"The Joker tried beating you to death after you got knocked out," Nightwing said. By how tense he was, she knew all he wanted to do was to snap the madman's neck.

But he followed Batman's rule: do not kill.

Raven swallowed. "Did he stab me with something?" she asked. "If his intent was to beat me to death, then why am I alive?"

"I guess he just wanted to cause us pain?" Starfire said. Nightwing nodded. "Friend Raven, he drove the weapon you call a crowbar into your middle, after beating you with it."

The mental image of that made Raven shudder, but she shut it out. She didn't want to think about anything that wasn't worth remembering if it was only going to cause her more pain than her heart was already putting her through. She was going to ask about it, but decided against it. Maybe it was the toxin and the meds combined, or maybe it was the slow and steady depression that had grown over the years, even before she'd joined the Titans.

Depression. It was such a cruel thing. She didn't harm herself; she was just overwhelmed some nights with a sadness so great it made her go into a meditating state for days at a time. Now, though, the feeling was intensified.

"Now, what about this Red Hood?" Raven asked, giving Dick her full attention.

"We don't really know," he admitted. "There's just something about him, and Batman wants to scout him out." He paused when his communicator beeped. He checked it and gave her a reluctant look. "I've got to go help Bats; Alfred just informed me about a stolen shipment of a weapon that was originally intended for Black Mask. Please, I don't want you to do it, but we could use all the help we could get."

With that, he left, leaving her with the rest of the team in silence.

Raven's mind was already made up. She would sit around in a hospital bed, with its sharp needles digging into her skin, machines beeping every time her heart beat, its cold sheets, its hard pillows, and its stark white rooms.

"Raven?" Beast Boy asked.

"I'll help," she sighed. She made another move to get off the bed, but one look from Cyborg told her to stay put.

"At least get an hour's sleep," he said, "so you can have some more strength. Bats said that the toxin would wear off with real sleep. And then we can go to the Batcave, alright?"

As much as she wanted to get out of here, Raven agreed.

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**A/N: please review :)**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks again for reading, hope you like this chapter! Sorry, I would have updated sooner, but here it is!**

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Chapter Three

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Raven opened her eyes when she heard her hospital room door open and close softly. She sat up, rubbing her eyes, and smiled, just a little, when she saw Beast Boy grinning at her while sitting back down in his usual chair, setting a change of normal clothes on the chair next to him.

"Has it been an hour?" she asked him. He nodded, watching her carefully as she swung her legs over the side of the bed, testing her powers. Nothing came of it. Slight panic made her heartbeat race. Beast Boy's eyebrows furrowed in concern as her toes touched the cold tiled floor. "Rae, I don't think you should..."

Raven ignored him, pushing herself off the bed, only to fall onto her knees, the cold floor meeting her limbs as she waved Beast Boy's helping hand away. She couldn't move her legs. Angry eyes met concerned ones as she shakily managed to get herself into a sitting position on her bed. "Why can't I move my legs?" she asked, her teeth grinding together in aggravation. Never in her life had she felt so weak before, never. Now she couldn't even walk.

Feeling useless, she scowled down at her feet.

"The toxin..." was all Beast Boy had to say before he received a death glare.

"How long will this last?" she snapped, hugging herself. Was she going to be have to put in a wheelchair? And hadn't Cyborg said that Batman believed that the toxin would wear off with sleep?

"Batman... did just let me know that the toxin will take...well, he doesn't exactly know when you'll be back to normal."

Raven scowled. "Hand me my clothes."

"You're going civilian, aren't you? You wouldn't want people seeing the total badass Raven in a wheelchair, now, would you?"

Raven gave him a genuine half-smile as he handed her dark grey jeans, black Vans, a tight purple t-shirt, undergarments in a plastic bag, and a Full Tilt Fleece Moto black jacket that looked appealing. "I'll let you change and get your wheelchair," he grinned at her when she frowned as he walked out the door, a little more of the familiar bounce back in his step now that she was awake and slowly, ever so slowly, recovering from the poison.

After having a painful time yanking all tubes and wires out of her body, Raven had even more difficulty pulling on her clothes because her legs were flimsy and useless, but managed to put everything on without getting it backwards. She felt better, out of that hospital gown. She missed her costume, but these would have to do. Besides, it was humiliating enough that she couldn't walk on her own; she didn't need to be mocked by the rest of the world.

She let her legs hang off the bed while she waited for Beast Boy to return, thinking about what use she could be to Nightwing and Batman. What could she possibly do, besides be an empath? That ability had not gone away with with the toxin, thankfully, but there was little else she could do other than to be a burden to her the friends they now loosely referred to themselves as a team.

Beast Boy came in, grinning, pushing a wheelchair which made her face twist into a frown.

"I'd rather crawl."

"Want to be carried, then?"

"No," she grumbled, motioning for him to bring the device closer. Sighing, she allowed him to lift her off the bed and into the chair. She rested her hands in her lap as he pushed her out. "What did you tell the public?" she asked him as they both received stares from the doctors, patients, and bystanders alike as she was pushed through the long hallways of one of Gotham's many well-equipped hospitals.

Beast Boy was too well known to put on a disguise, and all the Titans but her still had hoards of fans, this would look suspicious if he didn't make a statement explaining who the girl was. Luckily, no one had seen her with her hood down when she was fighting or when she had been caught on television.

"I told them that you're name is Rachel Roth and that you were injured by the Joker some time ago. You're also a witness in the Red Hood's case that Batman is dealing with."

"Isn't that a bad thing?" she asked him, wondering at the name choice. Maybe because it started with 'R's. What was her middle name, them? Rebecca or something? She almost wanted her real name back; there was nothing wrong with those names, she just didn't like aliases. "Won't the Red Hood come looking for me?" Raven wasn't usually concerned about her safety, but her being stuck in a wheelchair being overwhelmed with feelings from people all around her did make her an open, vulnerable target.

"Cy thinks the guy's too smart to know that, but we're hoping that he doesn't know you're a Titan. Bats and Nightwing came up with this, so if you hate it, please kill them, not me." BB explained, going up the front desk to have the crippled sorceress discharged. He grinned widely at the nurse who let out a squeal of delight. Raven had to roll her eyes at this as he turned around and headed for the front doors, where she could already see the flashing cameras ands the awaiting media that followed, or tried to follow, heroes and villains alike everywhere.

They were so aggravating, especially at a time like this.

"Let me do all the talking," he told her as the doors were opened for him by squealing fans. Raven grimaced that the bright lights flashing and shut her eyes tightly, putting her hands over her ears to send the world a signal that told them to _go away_.

They didn't.

"Beast Boy!" a familiar reporter chirped. Raven peaked and frowned when a tall woman with a large chest, very high heels, and platinum blonde hair marched up to her friends. "What can you tell us about this Rachel Roth?"

Beast Boy flashed her an award-winning grin and said as the constant shouting of reporters hushed, "This girl was attacked and poisoned by the Joker a while back and just recovered. She happened to witness something to do with the Red Hood, but details will be released later on that subject."

"Miss Roth," the reporter, Sandra, Raven thought her name was, sticking the microphone in front of her face, "would you like to talk to us a little about this Red Hood?"

Beast Boy opened his mouth to say that she wasn't feeling well enough or had the mental strenghth—which would have pissed her off a great amount—to comment, Raven spoke.

"All I know that he's a murderer, even if crime rate is going down. I... should I be scared?" she looked up into the woman's eyes, faking fear. It wasn't something she normally did; in fact, she'd never done it before.

"I'm sure that the Titans will protect you," the reporter said, giving her a fake, white-toothed smile.

Raven looked up at Beast Boy, her eyes wide, but he knew that she was silently threatening all the Titans that she would get even with them for giving her a fake name, fake life, and putting her in a position she'd rather die than to be in, including Batman, when her powers fully returned to her.. "Can I go home?"

"No," he shook his head, "sorry, Rachel, but the Batman wants you to tell us all that you can."

Raven had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes as she was bombarded with more questions.

"Nothing further!" Beast Boy shouted, grinning, pushing his friend through the crowd and towards an awaiting T-car. Starfire jumped out, shouting, "Friend Rachel! You are alright?" the alien rushed to her side, looking her up and down quickly. Raven scowled.

"Just get me in the damn car," the crippled woman grumbled. Cy got out, handed her wheelchair to Starfire, and put Raven in the back seat.

"Don't drop it," Cyborg warned the alien.

"I will not drop it," Starfire said, floating upwards. Envy filled Raven. How she missed the ability to simply fly. She realized she'd taken it all for granted, it would not do so ever again.

Beast Boy got in beside her. The T-car started up and they were driving through the city, like old times.

"Where's Nightwing?" Raven asked suddenly, realizing that he was absent.

"With Bats," Beast Boy answered. "In the cave. Now, we know that the Red Hood will be looking for a Rachel Roth, so we recommend that you not go beyond mansion."

Raven scowled at him. "So I get to live in a prison for God-knows how long?"

"Only until your powers come back," Cyborg assured her. "Then you can go kick someone's butt."

Raven huffed, but remained silent as they drew closer and closer to the home of Bruce Wayne, , the Batman.

This was going to be one hell of a mission.

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**A/N: please review, feedback helps! :)**

**The next chapter will be up sooner than this one was!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: This was a little fast, I admit, but after spending an hour or so SHOPPING (i must be the only girl who hates it because let me tell you we did not go shopping for anything I wanted) i had to do something to keep me sane :) so here it is!**

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Chapter Four

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Rachel Roth wasn't real.

That was what the Red Hood knew.

He'd searched and hacked every database he could, and had found nothing other than a newly acquired driver's license and seemingly fake birth certificate.

He was in an old brick chamber under the subway system, surrounded with technology almost identical to that which was situated in the Batcave. He was watching the local news; this Rachel Roth was being wheeled out of the hospital by that green guy, Beast Boy.

The Red Hood watched her carefully as she spoke to her carefully It only took him a second to realize she was acting to be scared.

When Beast Boy had stated earlier that she had been attacked by the Joker, he had, at first, felt sympathy. But he hadn't found any other records than the fake one he'd gotten by hacking into private files, which had taken only a few minutes.

He leaned back in his swivel chair, hands clasped behind his helmeted head, his feet up on the desk as he watched her being put into the T-car. Something about her was off, he knew. Her hair couldn't be called freakish, because there were lots of people who dyed their hair in Gotham, most of them as young as her, and then there was how pale she was. Wouldn't someone like her being out and about, whether with friends or getting a job or going to school? But the thing that bothered him the most were her eyes: they just didn't give him a normal feeling, like the rest of her was.

Racking his brain, trying to find out if he remembered this girl or not, he failed. She was so unfamiliar that he had to rewind the video to get a good look at her face. The Joker had given her something strong. She looked bitter, depressed, and angry, despite the face she put on the for the media. It seemed to him that she was used to putting on the face she had for people with cameras. It told him that she wasn't who she said she was.

That observation struck up a thought: she'd never even told her name to anyone, as far as he knew, and Beast Boy, of all people, had announced this earlier in the day that there was a girl who had witnessed him doing something that he shouldn't have. He hadn't threatened any girls with that hair color at all in his lifetime, or anyone quite like her, too. She was too different, she stood out too much.

He leaned forward, examining the girl very closely as the cameras caught her being picked up and carried into the T-car. She looked _very_ uncomfortable, being touched in any way, and looked even more angry when she noticed that people were still recording her. Before the car had sped away from the curb, though, he saw that she had scrunched herself down in her seat, as if she wanted to be hidden from the rest of the world.

No, she wasn't real; the way the rest of the Titans had responded to her was wrong; she wasn't squealing for an autograph, she wasn't whipping out a cell phone to take pictures of the heroes who were helping her, and, most importantly, she didn't look like she was in a thousand-mile radius of the word _happy_. In fact, she looked irritated. And the Titans seemed absolutely fine with this, as if this was normal, as if they knew her.

The Red Hood decided to do some more research on the Titans and did a public search and went to a website dedicated to the "Teen" Titans, now just the Titans.

He'd never really known any of the Titans. Well, besides Robin, he'd never even had the need to meet the others.

There was Starfire, the much sought-after redheaded beauty. He really didn't think she was much to look at. He skipped over the once-was Robin, having already fought him three times since he had arrived in Gotham to aid Batman, which had been the first three times the Red Hood had fought him as Nightwing. Next, there was Cyborg. He actually seemed like a decent hero, despite the fact that he showed off as much as that shape-shifter, Beast Boy, did. And then there was that moody sorceress that rarely ever spoke to the media, who always had her hood up, who always kept on her cloak. Her picture was of her standing on a podium, next to Beast Boy. He could easily tell that in this photo she was glaring down at him and he was grinning widely.

You couldn't see any of Raven's face; sometimes, you saw the flash of her eyes, but you could never determine the color or emotion within them, like you could with the other Titans.

On the website, it stated that she was half-demon, half-human. She'd said so herself, in a flat, emotionless tone, in an interview before turning on her heel and going through a portal to who-knows-where. She didn't seem all that interesting, since she didn't have any apparent fans or was liked. To him, it was like she was the one who had to be left alone, the one who had to be ignored, and the one who had to stand aside while the others talked.

Briefly, he wondered what it would be like to fight her: she'd broken many of her opponent's bones, but instead of praise, she'd received criticism about some of her violent ways of defeating her enemies: slamming them into walls, sending them to another dimension never to be seen again, and throwing them up so high in the air that Starfire had to fly up and catch them before they collided with a plane. Other than that, she was the Titan that was least talked about and most ignored.

He skimmed over a few of the videos where the Teen Titans had been in combat and had to admit that they worked extremely well together. In all honesty, he thought Raven's brutality seemed necessary in order for the rest of the team to be successful.

The Red Hood stopped looking at the old Teen Titans and came up with a photo with the new. Often now they worked in pairs; rarely did they ever join, all five of them, anymore to complete a mission. Beast Boy and Raven, apparently, had moved out of the Titan's Tower and had gotten their own homes: Beast Boy in New York City, for reasons only known to the hero himself, and Raven...well, that part was unknown. So he had to assume that the Titans only contacted her when they needed her and she would leave her home to assist them.

Or maybe she was nomadic; that seemed to fit her personality.

He pulled up the picture of that Rachel Roth, or whoever she really was, and Raven, side by side. He decided that he could deal with Rachel better because he could see emotion her face; when you couldn't see emotion on your opponent's face, you could never tell what they were thinking, and if you couldn't figure out their habits, you were screwed.

Raven seemed empty; a mere shell. He wondered if she could feel at all, or if all her emotions were faked. Not once had anyone ever caught her smiling. And how human was the human part of her, anyway?

The Red Hood shook his head, minimizing the photo of the sorceress; he preferred looking at Rachel, even if she was faking emotions. Maybe this was why no one paid any real attention to her: because she was probably so much more complicated than she appeared to be. There was something about this stranger, though, that made him want to pay her a little visit: there was a deep, deep sorrow in her eyes that everyone else seemed oblivious to. It was real, almost too real. She hid it well with a scowl or a frown, or maybe a smile, but it was there.

Maybe it had always been there.

The Red Hood stood up, knowing he had somewhere to be.

He would have to investigate both Raven and the mysterious Rachel Roth later.

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**A/N: thanks for reading, please review!**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: I love this too much to wait to write it :) SO YOU GET ANOTHER CHAPTER! :D usually I'd wait, but I wanted to really badly write, so HER YA GO**

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Chapter Five

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Raven was sitting in her wheelchair, arms and legs crossed, glaring at Batman, who was staring back at her.

"You came up with that toxin?" she finally exploded, flailing her arms, screaming at the top of her lungs, "and did you have to keep it a secret? What the hell?!"

"It was a precaution," Batman said, narrowing his eyes behind his mask at the pure fury on Raven's face. "Before you defeated your father, we had to have a weapon that would cripple him... through you."

"Oh, and you kept it around afterward, did you?" she snapped.

Nightwing sighed. "He kept it locked up and secure in a warehouse; the Joker must have come across it during one of his heists and somehow found out it was to be used for you if you..."

Raven glared at Batman. "I cannot believe this! So, you trust everyone else, but me? Is that it?"

"No," Batman said, "it was just a precaution."

"Oh, yeah, that's one hell of a precaution, Bats," she snapped, "it put me in a coma for a whole week! So when do I get my powers back? A day? A week? A month, when?!"

"Calm down, Rae," Beast Boy said, stepping closer to her. "It should wear off in a few hours."

"Oh, yay," Raven spat, glaring.

"Can we please get back to the case?" Starfire asked.

"Mission," Cy corrected. Seeing her confusion, he said, "we sound like cops when you call it a case. We call it a mission."

Nightwing rolled his eyes.

Raven sighed loudly. "Can you just tell me why the hell you needed me here?"

"This guy," Batman said, showing her a picture of the Red Hood sprinting away. She took the picture from him and slouched in her chair, examining it. Athletic. Fast. Probably a total pain. She handed back the photo and scowled at the screen that showed the Joker's old alias.

"Where are you going?" she asked Nightwing.

"Arkham," he replied, "Cyborg and Starfire are coming with us, to stand guard outside, to make sure no one tries anything funny. Beast Boy will be going out and spying on the Red Hood's employees."

Raven scowled up at her old leader. "And what am I, chopped liver?"

He shook his head, smiling lightly. "No, you're staying here, with your wheelchair, and guarding the cave while we're out. If any alarms go off—we have special ones that are specifically designed for the Red Hood—you call us, alright?"

infuriated at the fact that she was completely useless, other than for the use of surveillance, she hissed at Batman, "we'll discuss the toxin later, and when we're done, it better be destroyed."

Batman just glared at her, stood, and made his way towards the Batmobile.

"Can't you just say for once 'let's get in the car', is that so hard?" Nightwing said, running after him. The Batmobile started up and zoomed out of sight.

Starfire, Cyborg, and Beast Boy headed for T-car.

"Don't go anywhere," Beast Boy called to her as they, too, sped off, leaving her alone.

Raven thought about meditating after a few minutes of sitting in the same spot she'd been in for the past half hour, but since she couldn't life herself off the ground, she couldn't do such a thing. It irritated her. So she wheeled herself over to Bruce's computer, the one with the giant screen, and began checking all the points in Gotham which Batman had marked in case the Red Hood decided to get sloppy and get caught. Secretly, she hoped he wouldn't show up because she knew she couldn't do anything if one of that alarms did happen to go off.

Her eyes traveled to the old Robin suit encased in glass; it stood as a reminder for a failure Batman couldn't have stopped. For only a second did she wonder what the second Robin had been like; nothing like Dick, she knew, because Dick had once told her about him, but only once, and it was while he had been in a miserable haze. He'd been a bit arrogant, brash, but brave.

But he was dead, and Dick wasn't.

There was nothing more to it.

This was boring, she had to admit. The cave was cool and the silence ringing in her ears was getting to her, so she began wheeling herself past the stairs and into the elevator, determined not to be cooped up in here. She was never one to disregard orders, but did they really expect her to sit around and do nothing?

She pushed the up button and was pleased at elevator's speed. Once the doors opened, she managed to get all the way to the front doors without much difficulty. Now she stared at the huge things, frowned, and rammed them open, almost screaming when she found herself hurtling down the steps, and was shocked when he was thrown out of the seat and down the rest of the steps, her wheelchair clattering to a stop next to her.

Oh, how she _wished_ she could fly.

"Dammit," she muttered, dragging herself over to the wheelchair and propping it upright. She spied the seat belt and let out a frustrated noise. How had she not noticed this before? And what kind of wheelchair came with the kind of seat belt you'd find in the middle seat of a pickup truck? Carefully, she sat herself back down into the chair and this time strapped herself in. Feeling just a bit safer, she wheeled her way down the driveway and opened the gates by punching in the oh-so-easy-to-figure-out code. She left them open, knowing after a few minutes, they would close automatically. The beauty of technology, she thought grimly. Why couldn't they have given her a high-tech chair that would help her get around easier?

Oh, right, because Beast Boy must have _known_ she was going to try something.

"It's like they knew I was going to try something," she mumbled to herself as she went down a hill and saw more traffic up ahead. She sighed, moving to the shoulder of the road, going a lot slower than the cars passing her as she finally entered Gotham City.

Of course, being a cripple tonight earner her a lot of stairs. Even a few strangers had offered to give her rides, and they didn't look creepy, but she had refused.

It was a cold November night, and she shivered in her jacket, wondering if this really had been such a good idea. No, she decided, but it was better than sitting around and doing nothing but stare at a screen. Already knowing the lecture she would receive for leaving the mansion, she pushed onward, ignoring all the stares and curious looks.

When she was getting ready to cross a busy street, she saw a thuggish looking guy leering at her. Rolling her eyes once again, she turned to him and snapped, "when I'm out of this chair, I will send you into a world of hurt if you even think of doing anything."

Amazingly, this seemed to scare the guy.

Coward, she thought as she crossed the street. People made way for her, trying not to get their toes run over. She didn't even try to stay out of their way; she didn't really care, because out here, she didn't exist.

As she went through an alley, she began to wonder more and more about this Red Hood fellow. Batman had obtained so little information that she had been sure that this was something he needn't worry about: if it was something drastic, he'd be all over, but he seemed like just another guy spreading fear throughout Gotham.

But the crime-rate thing stumped her. What was up with that? Didn't he want to increase the crime rate? Wasn't that how he got more money off the people he employed?

Raven thought about the people he'd killed, the rules he'd set in stone, and most importantly, the anti-hero nature of it all. It was as if he was only controlling crime, whereas Batman kept trying to stop it.

Could you really stop crime? Was controlling it easier, like how the Red Hood was doing it?

Raven scolded herself silently as she came out of the alley, nearly colliding with someone she'd had to deal with before: a petty thug who worked for the Red Hood; she'd seen his face on TV before, but only once.

"Watch where you're going, little woman," the thug sneered down at her. She wrinkled her nose; he had horrible breath.

"Get the hell away from me, and I promise you I won't kill you as soon as I get out of this damned wheelchair," she said to him, rolling past him smoothly as she went downhill slightly.

"You're in Red Hood's territory! Get out now!" the man called out behind her. This made her stop the device and turn around slowly.

"So?" she asked cooly. "I'm not staying long; I just have somewhere to be, is all."

"Go somewhere else," the thug growled, coming towards her.

"I'll pass," she said, cutting into another alley, thanking how fast this thing could go despite how old fashioned it seemed. After taking a few dizzying turns, she'd lost the thug, and continued through the streets which were mostly empty.

She saw a club up ahead and made her way onto the now-crowded sidewalk, near the edge, trying not to get hit by anyone. So the Red Hood owned this part of town, did he? Raven wanted to laugh out loud, but just kept a stoic mask on, or at least what she thought was a stoic mask.

People, mostly criminals of all kinds, bustled past her. Women dressed in skimpy dresses or strict buisness outfits breezed by her and men either in expensive suits or thuggish clothes walked by, talking and laughing loudly. The club was the main source of income for the people who didn't kick up 40% to the Red Hood, and that was just fine with Raven. Never had she been in one of those places and never had she wanted to before, and she didn't want to be in one now.

Someone bumped her, and, to her dismay, she was knocked sideways into the street, landing smack-dab into the middle of an icy cold puddle of filthy water. She coughed as she unbuckled herself, rolling away from the chair to get herself into a sitting position. People stared at her as they either carried on with their night or simply watched the disabled young woman prop her wheelchair upright for the second time that night.

As Raven tried to get into her wet chair, she slipped on the newest and tiniest patches of black ice and she fell back down onto the ground. Groaning at the bruises on her knees that were forming, she struggled to support herself against the chair, shivering now that she was wet with cold. A breeze had picked up, not cold enough to send her teeth chattering away from her but enough for her fingers to grow numb.

People now just watched her try to get into her chair. Again, she slipped, this time landing on her elbow. But she wouldn't call out for help, not even caring how pathetic she looked now. She would help herself, if no one here even had the decency to help a woman back into the only thing keeping her going through the city. Besides, what if the Titans and Batman came back and she was still absent? They would most likely murder her when they found her, if she hadn't already gotten herself killed.

Raven knew she was smarter than this, that she was too wise to be doing this. Maybe it was the depression that was causing her to ignore orders and do what she knew was stupid and dangerous. She didn't even know why she was out here; was she looking for trouble? Probably.

When she had almost twisted herself around, she fell over once again, this time the side of her head colliding with the curb as she shakily sat up, once again. She knew that she had a nasty scrape on her cheek, but didn't care. She grit her teeth in agitation, sending death glares at the people who were now crowding just to see if she really couldn't do it.

She would, with or without help.

Clinging to the chair for a moment, breathing in and out deeply, she readied herself to be humiliated further when a voice called out,

"You going to help her, or just stand there?"

The male's voice was strong and held authority, but she couldn't pinpoint it as a woman in a tight, revealing red dress pulled the wheelchair onto the sidewalk. Strong arms of a man in a suit picked her up and set her down in the wheelchair gruffly. She quickly buckled herself, bewildered.

Who had said that?

People, silent and looking scared or grim, made a pathway big enough that she could get through the crowd easily. She managed to get out and was about to turn the corner when a chilling voice behind her asked,

"Now, where do you think you're going?"

Gulping, Raven pulled to a sharp stop, and would have sent herself flying if a gloved hand had not shot out and grabbed the arm of the wheelchair and yanked her back so she was balanced.

Raven was now looking up into the face of the Red Hood.

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**A/N: I hope you liked it!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Thanks for everyone has been reading this, it means so much :) i love getting opinions and thoughts! this might differ from the movie eventually, just in case you dont like that sort of deal.**

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Chapter Six

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"You wouldn't hurt a cripple, _would you_?" Rachel Roth asked him, looking more annoyed than scared that the moment. The Red Hood almost laughed, but he settled for a smirk behind his mask. She was good.

But then there was the sorrow, deep in her eyes, almost hidden by irritation. Who _was_ she?

"Depends," he said, grabbing one of the handles and dragging into the alley, ignoring how she struggled to get away from him. Keeping his hand firmly on the wheelchair, he made her face him. He was leaning down, so she had to look up to keep the top of her head from touching his chin. Upon her face was a glare.

But those eyes were getting to him.

She looked very annoyed with him; she must really despise getting touched, he realized. But he didn't back away. He needed to find the truth here, and he wasn't leaving this alley without it.

"You're not scared," he chuckled, "got something up your sleeve, Rachel?"

Something flashed within the girl's eyes, something not quite angry, but more like exasperation.

This was beginning to get old.

"I never said I wasn't," she said. She lifted a hand to her temple, above the nasty scrape she'd gotten just a moment ago. She looked a tad nauseous. He'd watched everyone gather around and just simply stare as this obviously disabled young woman tried to help herself up. He'd seen the angry glare that she'd sent them; she had determination, she was smart, but something told him she wasn't using her head.

"You okay there?" he asked, his voice hinting just a little at taunting. He was just trying to get her to talk, and pissing her off might just help.

"I wonder if I have a concussion," she wondered.

"Something tells me you're not usually in a wheelchair," he said, seeing the humiliation in her eyes.

"I'm not supposed to be in one," she snapped, "I can walk! I just... I can't use my legs, okay? And I'm not right in the head, because, you know, being in a coma for a week after being beaten half to death..." she shook her head, looking as if she'd thought she'd told him too much. Under her breath, Rachel muttered, "I'm not even supposed to be on the ground."

This sparked curiosity within him. A coma? Beaten to death? Narrowing his eyes, the Red Hood wished that she actually did exist so he had more information, but interrogating her, with or without violence, seemed the way to go.

She sighed, leaned back in her chair, rubbing her temples, eyes squeezed shut.

"Can I go home?" she sounded stressed, as if she'd come here by _choice_. She certainly was a mystery. He watched as she unbuckled herself from the chair and shift, looking away from him.

He opened his mouth to say no, but something told him that someone was behind him. He grabbed Rachel, his arm around her throat and a gun to her head, pressing her to him, and whirled so he was facing the Titans.

He almost laughed.

"Can I help you?" he asked, backing away slowly, not intending to kill her.

"Release her!" Starfire called to him.

"Who is she? I really think I'd remember a beauty like her if she'd seen me doing my job," the Red Hood said, tightening his hold around her neck. She fought to get free, but he was so much stronger than she was. The disability was an added bonus when it came to securing her.

Nightwing grit his teeth, fists clenched. "Just do it," he shouted. The Red Hood scoffed.

"Oh, and why is she so important? Does she know anything? Or is this all a lie, to draw me out? You know, I should have expected better from the Titans." He noticed that the sorceress was absent, but didn't have the gut feeling that she was around.

He could smell the rain in the air. The moon had disappeared behind some thick clouds, and the night seemed to have gone still.

Slowly, an idea crept into his mind. Wheels were turning in his mind as he glanced at the Titans, and then back at Rachel, who had ceased struggling and had gone limp in his hold.

Beast Boy stepped forward, looking slightly defeated, and shouted, "let Raven go!"

The Red Hood almost dropped her. So he had been right: not Rachel Roth.

But Raven herself?

He maneuvered her so he could look into her eyes. In them, he saw fear...and sorrow. But this wasn't the emotionless half-demon he'd thought about earlier; no, she was different now. Maybe it was because she had no way of hiding behind that cloak of hers. When he narrowed his eyes again, he could actually see the dark, emotionless part of her, a stoic mask struggling to be fit into place, trying to erase the fear in her eyes. Wasn't Raven known for being fearless? It angered him that she was trying to hide human emotions; he didn't know why, but he hated the fact that he could see the sorrow being masked by a black fury. She was helpless, though. She could do nothing to save herself.

He didn't have time to ponder it. He needed to make a move, now, or else they would first.

"Tell you what," the Red Hood whispered to Raven. He felt her shudder, but had already decided what he was about to do. It was probably going to a mistake, he thought idly. But then again, wasn't he just a failure? "If I let you go, you've got to promise me something."

When she didn't respond, he sighed heavily. "You want me to do something I'll never regret?" he asked loud enough for the others to hear.

"What do you want?" she finally hissed back, wearing an expression of total exhaustion and defeat.

"I really don't want to let you go, because I'd like to know what the hell you were trying to prove by getting yourself into a mess involving me."

She grimaced, and struggled again for the shortest of moments before going limp again. "I wasn't trying to prove anything," she mumbled, her eyes darting to her team, and then back to him. The Titans looked as if their patience was growing thin, and he knew he had to act fast.

"Then what?"

She sighed, "I don't know. Maybe it has something to do with the Joker being able to bring me down, maybe it's because there was a toxin built for me when I was threat but no longer am, maybe it's because I'm so fed up with _everything_." Her voice was shaking with anger, and her eyes ignited with fury.

"You're really messed up," he whispered directly into her ear, making her squirm, but he only held her tighter, and she tried to stifle a cough, "aren't you supposed to be kicking my ass right about now?"

But as her words finally sunk in, he went rigid, his smirk vanishing, his brilliant green eyes turning sharp and cold behind the helmet.

So the Joker had been the one to put her in a wheelchair? And there had been a toxin designed for her? His mind immediately told him it was Batman: he shook his head slightly. That man and his precautions, he thought bitterly.

But the _Joker_.

The Red Hood shoved her roughly away from him, right into the arms of Starfire, who was holding up all her weight. Without a second glance over his shoulder, and a feeling that he'd made a mistake, he took off to make his escape, all the Titans, including Batman, save for Raven and that redheaded alien, were chasing after him.

"Just like the good old days," he muttered, remembering when he, too, had chased criminals throughout Gotham.

But they would not catch him.

No, he would only slip through their fingers for the second time that night. Besides, he had a building to blow up: it wasn't as if he could spend all his time with these guys. He managed to dive into an open grate that lead underground. He could hear their shouts behind him, knowing that he'd lost them.

Breathing heavily, he began heading south, towards Black Mask's skyscraper.

Now, about that building that needed tending to...

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**A/N: Thanks again for everything, it means a ton! please review :)**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Sorry about the late-ish update! i would have sooner...oh, crap! out of excuses! SOMEONE QUICK! ahahahahah.**

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Chapter Seven

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Raven was sitting in the Batcave, in her wheelchair. She was being assessed by all her friends and by Batman: this was worse than falling over in public. This could most likly be worse than being nearly killed by the Red Hood.

Everyone was staring at her. Nightwing seemed more angry than the rest. Raven just looked at him, meeting everyone's eyes.

She didn't feel bad about what had happened. Not at all.

"Explain," Batman said coldly.

"Yeah, Rae, want to explain this one to us?" Nightwing glared at her.

"No," she said, "I don't want to explain it to you because in order to do that I'd have to know what I was doing in the first place."

"So why did you leave, Friend Raven?" Starfire asked, her eyes wide.

"I wasn't just going to sit around here all night, was I?" Raven glared at Stafire.

"What is up with you?" Beast Boy asked.

"Yeah," Cybrog said.

"Maybe I don't like being stuck in a wheelchair all night when I could be helping with something!" she exclaimed angrily. "I feel so useless in this thing! And I fell over last night, at least three times! Do you know how humiliating it is? Everyone just stared at me, and then..." she shook her head and took a deep breath. She had been irresponsible, but she'd needed to get out of the Cave.

She scowled at Batman. "Don't you have better things to do than lecture a grown woman on what she should and shouldn't do when temporarily useless? Like, catch the Red Hood, for example! Shouldn't you be getting on that?"

Batman nodded once. Turning to Nightwing, he said, "we have to go find the Red Hood before Black Mask's shipment comes in by helicopter. We can sort this out later." With that, the two left.

That left Raven with the rest of the Titans.

"Rae," Cy began, but her glare silenced him.

"Just leave me alone."

Beast Boy opened his mouth, but she shouted, "leave me be!" and he stepped back, looking injured. Guilt surfaced within the pool of silent depression that was her heart and she wanted to apologize, but didn't know how to.

The rest of the Titans slowly filed out the room. Beast Boy turned to leave, but she quickly rolled over to him and caught his arm.

"I'm sorry," she said, as emotionless-ly as she could.

Beast Boy grinned down at her. "S'kay, Rae," he said, "let me know if you need anything." With that, he walked away.

Raven stared after him, and then as an afterthought called out, "tell anyone about that and you won't be able to speak for a month!" His laughter bounced off the walls as he went upstairs to the actual mansion.

Raven sighed, slouching in her chair, staring that the screen. Batman had recorded the entire event where she had been helpless in that crime lord's grasp, and then he had spared her. The snapshot was of him speaking to her, with her just hanging limply, her feet not even touching the ground. Raven thought she looked like a rag doll. She felt so idle that she wished and wished that she was upstairs with her friends. But she was confined to her wheelchair. She realized then and there how lucky she was, to have friends such as them, to have a team that cared for her well-being.

Raven slouched down further in her chair, trying to get comfortable.

If she wasn't going anywhere, and sleep healed her, she was going to take a nap.

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**A/N: Thaaaaaaank ya verrrrrrry muchly fer reading! please review! !**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Hello, all! Yes, I know it's been a long while since I last updated this! I've been rereading all my stories lately (all of them last night while watching TV and staying up till 1) to get re-inspired and LET ME TELL YOU, it worked! Well, sorta... after sleeping for 13 hours or so, my brain only wants to go back to sleep. Hooray. So, this is my attempt to get back into this story!**

**I'd like to thank everyone who has reviewed, followed, and favorited, and read of course this weird little story of mine... actually, I'd like to thank everyone for reading everything of mine. For people to read EVERYTHING is a little mind-blowing, considering how crazy my brain is!**

**I will update my angel story soon! promise! (i have been thinking a lot in the last few days about and am currently trying to type up a decent chapter!)**

**Thanks again, for everything!**

**I'm writing this while singing along to whatever came up on YouTube... Hollywood Undead, anyone? XD Their new song "Dead Bite" is up! If you love them as much as I do (and i know that some of you might not know who they are) you should look up the lyrics (with the song of course!) :)**

**Yay music!**

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Chapter Eight

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When Raven awoke, Batman was sitting down in his chair, his mask down to reveal Bruce Wayne, as he began typing away on hs computer. She sat up, stretching as best she could, blinking as she noticed Dick sitting on one of the medical tables a few feet away. Alfred was fixing his leg.

"What happened?" she asked, watching as Bruce pulled up an image. It was the Red Hood. She watched the chase, and then he cut the rope.

That didn't happen. Ever.

After a few exchanged words between Dick and Bruce, Dick finishing with, "I'm chatty, it's part of my charm" and Alfred helping him upstairs. Raven remained as he replayed the same clip over and over and over and over again, until he found what he had been looking for. Except it hadn't been what anyone would have expected.

_"You haven't lost your touch, Bruce."_

Bruce stood up abruptly knocking over his chair. Raven remained silent, watching him carefully. He glanced at Raven and then walked away, putting his hood up and leaving her alone once again.

Raven slumped back in her wheelchair, staring at the image he had left on the screen. The Red Hood.

She decided that she was going to stand before anything else happened without her. Thoroughly annoyed, she tried standing, but only fell to the floor, landing on her knees, wincing as she remembered her earlier attempts to get into the chair after falling.

She tried again to stand, and used the chair for support, careful not to knock it over. She managed to wobble for a few seconds before falling over again. Cursing, she tried again, and managed to stand up again. This time, a familiar voice broke her concentration.

"Well, aren't you persistent." She whirled around, forgetting to keep a hold on the chair, and fell backwards to look up into the face of the very villain who knew Batman's secret identity.

She narrowed her eyes at him. How had he gotten in here, let alone the mansion? Well, he'd known where to look if he'd known that Bruce _Wayne _was Batman. She was in no position whatsoever to begin a fight and she was an easy target. So why not just kill her, then? He had the perfect chance.

"Why are you here?" her voice held no emotion, even though she knew that he could see right through her now, now that he had seen her without her hood and had actually _looked _at her for the first time. It felt so strange, having someone you were enemies know you better than your teammates probably did.

"Why aren't you out with your team?" he asked, stepping closer to her. She wasn't the type to scream for help, but this seemed like a good time to call out to Batman, if he was still here.

She glared at him, careful not to make any sudden movement as she tried to stand yet again. Before she could fall backwards, he stepped forward and gripped her arm tightly. He was the only thing keeping her on her feet. Well, she wasn't even on her feet: he was holding her about half an inch above the ground, which scared her, because he could easily toss her across the room and she would be injured even more; the toxin was slowly coming out of her system, and she sensed that soon she would be able to kick his sorry ass across the room, but until then, she was helpless.

"You've got some explaining to do, Sunshine," he told her.

"Sunshine?" she fumed, forgetting her current situation for a moment in her anger. "Sunshine?!"

"Very appropriate for your mood, don't you think?"

When she said nothing, he dropped her onto the floor and leaned down to look at her, inspecting her stoic mask that had been slipping since she had first seen him. "Why the alias?" he asked. "Why the fake story?"

Raven stared up at him defiantly, her eye boring into his. No answer.

"You'll answer eventually," he said, stepping away from her. He paused and she knew he was looking at the Robin costume. The empath was able to be feel again, and she felt something so violent and dark and twisted rolling off of the Red Hood that she actually made a choking sound as the waves of emotion hit her, full force. She had _not_ been expecting that.

"You okay?" he looked at her, making no move to help her, and that was just fine. She could take care of herself. "Well, since you're still glaring at me, I'd best take this chance to run. I'll see you around, Sunshine." He ran off towards the stairs and disappeared, and she was left alone in silence. Again.

Raven shakily used the chair to stand up, wobbling as she plopped herself back in it and buckling herself to the device. Rubbing her temples at the dull ache in her head that would come when she hadn't felt something intense for a while, she pondered over that twisted feeling that had rolled off of him. Did he have something against Batman? Going through the fading essence he'd left behind with her, she studied as best she could before she was totally alone, in the ringing silence.

There was pain. Sorrow. Hatred. A dark, twisted hatred. A dark streak intensified by a trauma so great it had morphed this once-good person into the thing he was now. Just who had he been before he had taken up the used name of the Red Hood? Why had he directed so much pain at the Robin suit? Had he known that second Robin by any chance? And then there was the most important question (that mattered to the majority of heroes): how did he know Batman's identity? Raven wondered this, but she also had many, many other questions swimming around in her head. Slouching down in her seat again in case anyone wandered in, she closed her eyes and dozed off, trying to keep the headache away.

This would not be the last she saw of the Red Hood.

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~ x ~

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**A/N: as always, please review!**

**REMEMBER: YouTube: hollywood undead DEAD BITE ! ! ! ! ! !**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: I wasn't going to update this so soon! I've been out of ideas since October... but seeing as how a guest posted a review on my Town 2010 one shot to update this, I'm kinda weirded out. I was getting around to it, but kudos to whoever that was.**

**You got me to update.**

**Again, I apologize for the delay. Really. It's been nearly four months or something.**

**Since I'm home sick, on the couch, watching the Mission Impossibly with Jeremy Renner, I think I owe you all a chapter or ten. No, not ten, but at least an update.**

**Really, I love you all for the support you've shown and the follows! I've never known a crossover to have such good reception as far as I know of. How can you still like this story after no updates?**

**No, don't answer that.**

**On a different note, this entire story might be out of... story? OOS? not OOC. It's been a while.**

**Bear with me while I get back into a grove of things, please!**

**BTW: This is gona be a super sucky chapter. Just so you know.**

**OH! IMPORTANT! SUPER DUPER IMPORTANT! BATMAN UNDER THE RED HOOD IS BACK ON NETFLIX FOR INSTANT DOWNLOAD PEOPLE! YES! ! :D It means YOU DON'T HAVE TO BUY IT OR RENT IT TILL IT GOES AWAY AGAIN! :)**

**Sorry ;)**

**Let me know if I'm on the right track here...**

**Anyways, read on!**

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~ Chapter Nine ~

* * *

The Red Hood wasn't furious. He was just mildly pissed off. He _would_ find out what the hell was going on with Rachel - no, _Raven_ - if it killed him.

He was on the roof of the skyscraper across from the Black Mask's own, his missile launcher finding its target, the man himself standing in plain sight.

_Sunshine_.

He rather liked that nickname. His glee for that was short lived, though, as he switched on the laser and found his target after a few seconds. His body still ached from the fight with the Fearsome Hand of Four, Batman knew who he was - why he hadn't figured that out sooner, he wouldn't know - and the Teen Titans - it annoyed them because they weren't teens, apparently, which was hilarious - were officially annoying the hell out of him. He tried to push these thoughts filled with mixed feelings out of his head, and did this by concentrating on the task at hand. Feeling a familiar rush as he waved nonchalantly at the man he was in the mood to deliver some damage to, who turned and fled.

"Wow. He can sure move when he wants to." Shrugging, he fired and watched with amusement as the building's upper floors erupted into flames.

Shrugging again, he stood, setting the weapon aside. His plan was working

Aside from the Sunshine-issue, everything was working out just as he wanted it to.

* * *

Black Mask sat across from the Joker as he crunched noisily on his chips that had been provided for him. He gritted his teeth in utter irritation.

This probably wasn't the best idea, negotiating with a psychotic.

* * *

Bats-unmasked was pissed about something. The graveyard was dug up, and the Titans were useless and uninformed as to why Bruce had stormed back into the mansion without a word to them.

Wordlessly, they decided that it was best that they head down to the Cave to see Raven. The toxin should have worn off by now - if not earlier when they had left her alone - but on the way done a furious Batman. They said nothing to him, bewildered though, and entered the cave, to see Alfred helping Raven out of her chair. She was dressed in her usual attire, her stoic expression was back in place, but she looked paler than usual - like she was actual coming down with something.

"Rae!" Cy grinned at her, and she raised an eyebrow as she let go of Alfred, who stepped away as she took a step forward.

Yes, Raven was back.

"How are you feeling, friend Raven?" Starfire asked, eyes wide, a huge smile on her face as her enormous green orbs sparkled.

Raven merely gave her a look and lifted herself off the ground. She merely hovered for a bit before going a bit higher. Visibly, she relaxed, but did not look any better. Cy winced. Earlier, they had learned that the toxin had also affected her moods, actions - not only her crippled state, which had vanished to their relief. Her swearing had been strange - unlike her - but not totally unexpected. Now, though, she could use her powers as she pleased again, without difficulty.

Raven, on the other hand, felt more drained than usual. She indeed was sick. No herbal tea had been given to her in a long while, but she felt too crabby to make it herself or to ask for it to be made (she thought that the butler did enough, she would never let him go to the trouble to do something she could easily do herself) and she wanted to get some air.

We senses were more aware. She could feel her friends' worry and concern, but couldn't bring herself to tell them she wasn't okay. She knew that it was her fault that they didn't know - but she refused to let them know. It was a weakness, to show how damaged one was.

You didn't just to do that.

"I need to go."

Confusion passed over her friend's faces as she opened a portal and simply left, feeling suffocated.

Cyborg, Beast Boy, and Starfire all exchanged glances before exiting the cave

Perhaps it would be a good idea to find her before someone else did.

* * *

~ x ~

* * *

**A/N: ****Again, I'm sorry for the delay.**

**But you reviewed my Town fic to have me update this!**

**I was watching Firefly on netflix while writing this. (irrelevant, but it's such a great series... the movie was okay... except for a few parts.)**


	10. Chapter 10

**WARNING: _TINY CHAPTER AHEAD!_ no complaints about that, please...**

**A/N: Last chapter was very short, and I apologize. But told me to update this fic on my TOWN ONE SHOT. TOWN. With J-E-R-E-M-Y R-E-N-N-E-R! I understand you like this story, but... my town fic? *squeaks and runs away***

* * *

~ Chapter Ten ~

* * *

Raven flew about the city. It felt so good to be out again, to fly.

But the effort was killing her - she was indeed being drained. She wouldn't last the rest of the night. An hour or so, perhaps, but that was about it. She didn't need to run into the Red Hood again tonight, although she doubted that wouldn't happen.

The toxin - it was now making her sickly. Wit each passing moment, she could feel herself growing heavier. Flying shouldn't be this hard. It shouldn't take any effort at all. But she felt like she was being weighed down, but at the same time the weightless feeling she'd always experienced while flying was battling her mood.

If he could find her once, he could find her again. She did not doubt that one bit.

Raven felt safe with her hood up. No one could see her. She felt guarded once again, in control - out of that wretched wheelchair. She felt like she'd been acting foolish. But it wasn't her fault. No. It was the toxin's - the Joker's. Not hers.

Being way up in the air cleared her of all emotions. Being the empath was always overwhelming - but up here, free of the toxin (for the most part) she could think. She could push everyone and everything away and -

The sound of sirens reached her ears, and she groaned.

This really wasn't her night, now, was it?

Raven put her stoic mask back in place, sensing distress, satisfaction, and insanity getting closer as she focused on those very emotions, knowing exactly who she was going to run into but not in the mood to do anything about it.

After a few seconds of flight, she came to a halt a distance away from a bridge, where she knew the Joker was and had blocked off.

But that wasn't what got her.

It was the Red Hood staring down at the madman.

This _really_ wasn't her night.

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~ x ~

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**A/N: thanks for reading! Please review!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Y'know, I looked at a few of the Raven/Jason crossovers, and I like 'em. This might sound stupid, but I got a little paranoid. If you look at the publish date (a.k.a: when it was first written) you'll see one that has nothing to do with Raven, and then mine, and the rest. It's safe to say I was the first - I'll shut up now. My problem? I don't know. It's just... forget that. But check. And the wonder. I'm in a weird mood right now.**

**Yes, yes, I KNOW, I updated. ****I have given you a longer chapter. Your welcome.**

* * *

~ Chapter Eleven ~

* * *

Raven watched as the Joker attempted to get his lighter to work. Didn't anyone notice the crime lord high above? Was _everyone _that oblivious? Raven debated whether or not to get into this. She could feel something akin to bitterness, anger, and satisfaction radiating off of the Red Hood, and an nauseating, overwhelming sensation of pure, dark, and consuming **insanity** coming from the clown. As well as a sickening undertone of amusement.**  
**

By Azar. She wanted to puke.

Well, at least she was completely back to normal, right?

Raven decided to hang back. Anything that had to do with the Red Hood - no matter how secretly curious she sincerely was underneath an annoyed, bored exterior - Batman would probably offer to handle on his own. But he wasn't here right now, and even though the authorities had arrived, blocked off the bridge, but were completely clueless when it came to the helmet-ed troublemaker just watching the show.

Raven flew a little closer, careful to stay out of sight, making sure her hood was up, and she could make out anything that the two would possibly say to each together (she was expecting a few insults here and there; villains usually insulted fellow villains more than they did the heroes, if she remembered correctly). How no one had spotted her, she had no idea - but relief flooded through her anyways.

Even though someone had already spotted her. But she didn't know that. Otherwise, she would have vacated the area. She had no idea that the Red Hood kept glancing between her and the Joker.

If she had, he would've been dead in three, maybe four seconds flat.

She listened as the Red Hood and the Joker began to speak to one another. She could sense an undertone of revenge coming from the one higher above the choppy water. She tried to ignore the muffled screams of the prisoners in the truck - she could sense a strong surge of determination from somewhere nearby, getting closer, but it was faint at the moment - and listened to the Red Hood, and then the Joker, and then she sucked in a sharp breath when she heard the Red Hood speak.

"... I'm just something you helped make."

Raven blinked.

This was...

Cryptic.

_Annoying_.

With a single thought, she could have **both** of them in her hands - well, in the hands of her magic, but what the hell (she still couldn't believe she'd acted **so out of character**, swearing with outbursts and the oh-so pathetic wheel chair...).

She watched, her eyes locked on the Joker as he finally got his lighter to work and dropped it into the truck. More muffled screams began to arise from the back of the vehicle, and the Joker began to laugh - when he was suddenly covered by a white foam that put out the fire.

"Nice timing," she heard the Red Hood say, although it went unheard by everyone else. Her eyes found the Batplane (it had not been her idea for the nickname of it; Nightwing wasn't all that creative when it came to naming things - putting _Bat_in front of everything didn't count as unoriginal after a while).

When she looked down at where the Joker was, she was mildly surprised to see he was gone. She flew down, nearing the water's surface, but she looked up too late when a surge of emotions - and a larger body - slammed into her mid-air, sending her into the water.

Her eyes were open as she felt a hand grab her small wrist and yank her around, and even though the water made her eyes blurry and stung, she knew exactly who it was. She opened her mouth to chant her mantra, but a swift, unexpected kick to the gut knocked whatever air she had left in her lungs (even underwater she expected she could pull something off) and was helpless as she was sent further into the water, watching with a surge of rage at the situation as the Red Hood waved at her with an overexaggerated movement of his arm before he swam over to the Joker, and snatched the madman (who probably needed to be put into one of her portals and shoved into another dimension), and then the two swam away from her.

This only served as a reminder to Raven that she had her powers back (every single ounce of her energy wasn't all there, but it was enough to get her to propel herself with a mantra that she was barely able to utter, and used her magic to find the bottom of the river (she had no idea if she could last underwater much longer but she highly doubted she'd last, considering getting poisoned and all by the madman who should have been thrown down a deep, dark hole and buried alive). She panicked for a split second, the first few irritation thoughts beginning to seep into her normally zen-centered mind (when she wasn't pissed), but immediately felt more secure as she shoved herself upwards, and just as she opened her mouth to gulp in a lung-full of filthy, polluted water, she broke the surface, her magic withdrawing into her hands as she settled herself mentally as well as physically in the air. The Red Hood and the Joker were nowhere to be seen, and Batman was flying off in his enormous aircraft.

Raven was sick of this. As in, seriously **sick of this** - she was going to find out what was going on with everyone, even though she needed rest - she needed to meditate, to collect herself, especially after this.

Raven began to follow him, preparing herself for a lecture she might or might not receive because "she was getting into matters that didn't concern her" (bullshit). He was mad at her - she knew that. What better chance did she have at finding out what was going on with the Red Hood, Bats, and the Joker? She could find out how the Joker "had helped make" the crime lord.

As she followed, she focused her empath powers on the Batplane (or whatever it was really called).

Raven could of stress, determination, anger and - what was that?

Guilt?

He took a sudden turn and she followed, un-phased by the change of direction. Wherever Bats was going, she was going. No matter how irrational this was. She wanted something akin to an answer to call of this, although she wasn't sure there was much of a question - just mysterious happenings that included a caped crusader, an annoying crime lord, and a scheming psychopath - and she wanted answers to questions that didn't exist.

However illogical, irrational, and out of character, Raven would find out.

* * *

~ x ~

* * *

**A/N: Leave a review before you hit the exit button?**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: It's been a while, hasn't it? Yeah, and it's about time I started working on this again. For this story, I will apologize for its delay of updating. I love you all for being so kind and loving towards it, and did i mention how disastrous I want to make it? See, I'm not going to end it in two or three chapters. NO. I am going to add more, add a lot more, hopefully - but I admit, I might need some help with ideas and whatnot, so if you have any ideas let me know either through a PM or a review.**

**Again, thank you - seriously. You all are amazing people for reading this :)**

* * *

~ Chapter Twelve ~

* * *

"By Azar." The grumble escaped her lips before she could stop herself, but honestly, it felt good to be back to her old self again.

All she wanted was answers, but instead, she had to be interrupted but her civil duties to the citizens of Gotham - not that she didn't like her duties; sometimes, they came in at the worst of times, and all she wanted was to find out more about the Red Hood - but then, disaster struck, and she was needed.

"Sorry, Rae - we just need your help," Beast Boy said, smiling at her apologetically as her feet touched down onto the pavement she had been so reluctant to land on. She had just decided to follow the Red Hood, and Batman - but then the commotion had begun on the bridge, and she had sensed the confusion coming from both authorities and her old teammates as well as exasperation and determination, meaning someone had caused an issue that no one wanted to deal with at the time.

What could possibly be more urgent than finding answers to questions she didn't even know herself?

Taking a look around, her expression grew dark as she realized that the police were having trouble rounding up the foam-covered prisoners that had been literally a second away from being blown to smithereens by the madman she sorely wanted to strangle.

But, it was her duty, as it was Beast Boy's, Starfire's, and Cyborg's duty, to assist Gotham's finest (although right now they weren't doing a fine job, seeing as how they seemed to be missing a few prisoners here and there). Batman was doing his duty by going after the Red Hood and the Joker, though she wanted to pursue _them_ instead of attending to the problem on the bridge. And although Raven just wanted to leave the car wrecks and commotion on the bridge, this was her job, and she had to do it, whether she liked it or not.

Besides, it was better than being back in that wheelchair.

"Yo, boss," she heard Cyborg call, and looked around and spotted him, heading towards Commissioner Gordon.

"Who are we missing?" Beast Boy asked, eyeing the remaining prisoners covered in the fire extinguishing-residue Batman had dumped on them in order to save their lives. A waste, really - they were no better than the madman Batman was currently chasing after. And she wasn't even sure about the Red Hood...

"Just a few," Gordon said, running a hand through his hair, sighing heavily. "What a night. Who let the Joker out of his prison, anyhow?"

Raven didn't know. All she knew was that she wanted the Joker back where he belonged so she could come some meditating done - and maybe she could even find the answers to the questions she didn't know about.

She hated being left in the dark when it was obvious her old team knew exactly what was going on. But she decided that she would either find out later from them or have to do some poking about herself, because it's seemed inappropriate to ask about it now when they all had a job to do.

"Rae," Cyborg turned to the cloaked, still soaking wet half-demon beside Beast Boy, who was looking at her suspiciously. She sent him a glare, which made him gulp and look away. If they expected her to be weak - to sit in a wheelchair while she could fly and help them, even if she wanted to be wherever Batman was - presumably with the crime lord that had snatched the Joker away, for whatever reason - they were wrong. She was not going to be useless. She was _not_ going to sit idly by while her old teammates did their share of the work needed to be done tonight.

"Rae, should you even be out here?" Cy looked down at her, suspiciously.

Raven simply glared up at him. Did she really appear to be _that_ delicate, _that_ fragile?

"I'm fine." Her voice was cold, firm, and quiet. It was back to normal. Or, at least she hoped it seemed back to normal. Starfire sure wasn't asking questions; Kori had gone off in search of the escaped criminals. Raven found, to her utter annoyance, that she would rather be with the ever-talkative alien instead of being treated like she was a china doll - even if it was only because she was a sister to them. Making use of herself was not the same as being held back by a mere inconvenience brought on by a madman who should have been killed long ago.

"Dude," Beast Boy warned, but Cyborg only narrowed his eyes. It was nice that he was concerned for her - really, it was, and she appreciated it, but she had not properly rested in quite a while, and dammit - she wanted answers badly. She wanted things to get back to normal. She wanted everyone to treat her as - as - as she normally would have been treated.

But in truth, her teammates' concern was noted and appreciated.

"Rae, you were... uh... out of it -" (she assumed "out of it" meant "unable to be of use to anyone around") "- for a while. You should, uh, head back to the Cave or something. Y'know - rest, or meditate."

As much as she wanted to, Raven had to shake her head. She **would not **sit by and let them do all the work. She would be of use - whether she, or they, liked it or not.

"I'm fine," she repeated, "If you would give me a moment, I can locate those who ran off -"

"_Rae_," Beast Boy interrupted abruptly.

She would have ignored him completely if it weren't for the hand he put on her shoulder. This action caused her icy glare to be focused on him. This time, though, he didn't look away, or flinch, or wince, or grimace. He was giving her an all-time serious "I mean it" looks. She rarely ever got these.

But she couldn't listen to him now.

"Beast Boy," she sighed, slipping out from under his hand - earning a look of disapproval from Cyborg while doing so - and stepping to the side, away from both her old teammates, "I can do this myself."

"No, you're _not_ fine, Raven," he said, glaring right back at her. He was nearly shouting now. He was fully ignoring Cyborg and Gordon, while the latter simply ignored the exchange of words, and was barking orders to other officers. Idly, she sensed that he, too, was thoroughly annoyed with the current situation, but it took her a full second to focus her attention on the green young man glaring right back down at her. Studying him, she resisted the urge to sigh and point out he wasn't the boss of her (why those words sounded so childish, she did not know - but it would be better if he heard it now that she was not simply ordered about). He was acting rather irrationally, and that was annoying in and of itself. Couldn't he just let her do her duty, or did he have to make this harder than it already was? She knew what she should be doing - it was just that she wouldn't stand feeling absolutely useless, especially at a time like this - especially since Cyborg had told her in the first place that they needed help, and now they suddenly didn't need _hers_. "You got poisoned by the Joker, and you were in a wheelchair, and we thought you weren't gonna wake up in the hospital and - _Raven_. You had to be _hospitalized_ in order to get better. You **have** to listen to me on this. Please, Rae."

Beast Boy was actually pleading with her. This wasn't the usual, childish pleading she heard from him. Not, "please, please, please race me in this game!". No, "oh come on, Rae! Just this once! Please! I'll do anything if you help me with this prank!". No, this was a serious, more grown-up side to him that she hadn't seen in a while, one she hadn't anticipated seeing any time soon.

He was actually pleading with her to stay out of this, for her safety, for her health - but she _couldn't_.

Shaking her head, she looking up at him.

Raven's expression was grim, and she opened her mouth to tell him exactly what was on her mind, but then Cyborg spoke up.

"Yo, guys. Batman just commed me - he wants you two to come help him out. He's in Crime Alley."

Raven and Beast Boy exchanged glares, before nodding to Cyborg, before turning to leave. Beast Boy, however, turned back to his old teammate. "What about you and Starfire?" he asked.

"I'll stay with her and round the rest of those guys up," he said, "we got this. Now, go, before Bats gets pissed and rushes you two." Cyborg looked like he wanted to come along. But, even more so, he looked like he wanted to make Raven stay put and help him and their alien teammate, but Batman's orders were orders, and even though they were adults, he was still some sort of leader to them, and it was bad to keep him waiting. So Cyborg simply watched them turn away. Over her shoulder, she watched him head over to Gordon, who looked - and was - positively distressed. It looked like everyone was having a bad night.

Without another word, Raven lifted herself off the ground, and began heading towards the location Cyborg had mentioned. Already, she could see smoke from afar, and it wasn't hard to guess who might have caused it. She could sense Cyborg's irritation, Gordon's frustration, and the collective feeling of exhaustion that everyone seemed to be sharing tonight. She completely ignored Beast Boy as he shape-shifted into a green cheetah and dashed on ahead of her.

A headache was building behind her eyes as she tried focusing on specific emotions, but there were too many - they were all jumbled, and she hadn't rested in a while, but she couldn't complain now, not when she now had her chance to find out just what was going on. Asking Beast Boy or Cyborg or Starfire was out of the question - and now, she didn't have to ask, because she could find out for herself, and hopefully, when she and her old teammate arrived at the scene, things might be a little less hectic, but she couldn't hope for such things when both the Red Hood _and_ the Joker were both involved - especially since she had no idea how they were both involved and why they had both decided to make tonight one of the most exhausting nights of her life.

As they drew closer, Raven tried to push all of these thoughts and feelings out of her mind, out of her body - or at least, to a corner in her mind where she could deal with everything later, because she didn't have time for this. She had to stop thinking, she had to simply do her job and arrive sooner rather than later - she had to keep up with Beast Boy, and thinking about all of this was slowing her down.

But, she couldn't help but wonder as she drew closer and closer to what looked like ruins of an old apartment building:

What had happened now?

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~ x ~

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**A/N: Review?**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Since I am NOT bringing my computer with me to wherever I am going for a week (no wifi, no point), I decided to update this (since I updated A Promise Never Broken) before I leave. I just wanted to thank everyone for their reviews, follows, favorites, and most importantly: I wanted to thank you for actually taking the time out of your lives to READ _my_ work! I mean, _wow_! I never expected _this_ (or any of my other things) to be well-received, so I gotta thank you guys for being awesome human beings :) so thanks.**

**Also, your patience astounds me. I am not a patient person, mind you. I have no idea how you guys can wait for my updates and be so wonderful about my lack of said updates. So, thank you for that, too ;D**

**Oh, and a quick shout out to ZDrive: thanks again for the advice - it's sincerely appreciated! I'll be sure to use it (well, as best I can.) :D**

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~ Chapter Thirteen ~

* * *

When Raven and Beast Boy arrived in Crime Alley, the scene that greeted them shocked the green young man, who had shifted back to his normal form, into dead silence. The only hesitated for a moment, to look at the rubble, to look at the _damage_ that had been caused by... _who_ had even blown the building up?

Raven's eyes immediately focused on a strong source of bitterness, and they found Batman, overturning rubble while eerie, bone-chilling laughter echoed off the walls of the ruined building.

Ignoring Beast Boy's glare, Raven flew ahead and up to where Batman was, hovering just a few feet away.

"Cyborg said you needed us!" Beast Boy called from below, climbing over the mountainous piles of rubble in order to get closer to Batman so he wouldn't have to yell. "Is something wrong?"

"Yes," Batman said. His voice was strained - there was a faint trace of hurt lingering in the air. Raven couldn't tell if it was from Batman, the Joker - who looked like he'd had the lower part of his body smashed by the pile of debris on him, that left his upper torso and head free so he could laugh all he wanted - or something else, namely the Red Hood.

But the hurt that was fading into the night - it wasn't born from physical pain. There was definitely something _wrong _here, something she couldn't place - and it was bad enough that she still had to talk to Batman (alone, not with the other Titans around) about the toxin the Joker had infected her with. She didn't know a thing about it - and her headache was beginning to get worse.

A lot worse.

Raven might have guessed that she was developing a migraine, and it might be a _good_ guess to say that the toxin might have something to do with it, even if she had her powers back, even if she could fly.

Yeah, she had to make a mental note in order to remind herself that _that_ **really** needed to be discussed. As soon as they were all done here, and everyone else had gone home.

"What's the matter?" Beast Boy asked, climbing the rest of the rubble so he was standing (technically) next to Raven, his arms crossed over his chest as the two young heroes studied the older one, who looked positively exhausted. He looked like he needed to sleep (and in her case, she needed to meditate, and then nap, because her headache was killing her). Maybe after he'd gotten a decent amount of sleep she could speak to him about the toxin.

About the damn, accursed chemical that had rendered her _useless_ at a time where her powers were needed.

Raven was not accustomed to feeling so useless. She hated it - she despised the feeling with every fiber in her being. And she wanted answers to questions she hadn't even thought of yet.

The headache was definitely making it hard to think straight.

"The Red Hood escaped." Batman's tone was curt, however strained it was - he sounded like he was trying to quell a raging, bitter tone, but it had slipped into his words anyway. Not that Raven really cared. She just needed to _get rid of the headache_ before her head exploded due to the faint ringing in her ears and the pain in her sinuses.

"How do you know he's not... you know... _dead_..." Beast Boy rubbed the back of his neck, glancing around the wreckage, his eyes lingering on the madman, who had reduced his loud, bursting laughter to annoying little spurts of giggles. "Or... at least _here_."

Beast Boy really hadn't changed over the years, Raven observed. He could take things more seriously, handle situations with a bit more grace than he had while they were children - but all in all, she noted, with a slight pang, he really hadn't changed.

He was probably the only one of them who hadn't really morphed into something entirely different from what he had been like as a child when he had entered adulthood.

Batman glared at Beast Boy, who promptly straightened and gave him a sheepish smile. "Sorry, there, Bats," he muttered. "So... what do you want us to do about it? Are we going after him?"

Beast Boy glanced up at Raven, who had moved her eyes from him to Batman under the safety of her hood. Thank God it was darker under the fabric - the city lights were beginning to get to her. She didn't know how long she would last, or how bad this headache - migraine? - would get, or if it would subside any time soon. If she had been caught staring, he might have only gotten more worried over her well-being.

He was just being her friend.

She couldn't be mad at him for that.

Batman shook his head. He looked over his shoulder to briefly look at the Joker, who was now screaming lewd profanities about something or another that might or might not have had to do with what had happened her, maybe only minute ago. Raven, however, could not understand the madman's ramblings from where she was - and she had to swallow down bile as she was hit with a slight wave of pure _madness_.

Damn.

Tylenol wasn't sounding too bad. Even if it messed with her system - even if it didn't work - even it ended up just making it worse- Tylenol sounded good right now. Or maybe someone should just split her head open and relieve her of the pain that was throbbing through her skull, under the porcelain skin that was wrapped tightly around her bones and muscles.

"_We _are not doing anything." Batman turned his head up to look - more like glare - up at Raven. "_She_ will go out and try and locate him - and if he tries to cause you harm, Raven, you _will_ cease your pursuit - and _we_ will get the Joker into Arkham again."

Beast Boy gave Batman an incredulous look. "Why should _she_ go after him - _alone_ - and why should she stop chasing him if he tries to fight her? This is Raven we're talking about!"

Raven didn't miss the meaningful glare Beast Boy sent her way. She returned it with an unseen scowl while the Caped Crusader answered his questions.

"Because, I need someone - someone who can move easily and without any trouble - to try and find him. I don't want you to engage; I just want you to find and follow him, but leave his presence immediately if he tries to fight. We don't need anymore destruction tonight that has the Red Hood partly at fault."

"Partly?" Beast Boy echoed, raising an eyebrow. "You mean this _wasn't_ all his fault?"

Batman answered him with a glare. Instead, he looked up back to Raven.

"Can you do it? If you're in no condition to - "

"I'll go." The finality in her voice cut him off sharply, and he did not take kindly to this. He, too, was obviously - if only a little - concerning. Maybe it was because she would become more of a liability (again) if she engaged in a fight with Gotham's most wanted.

Without another word or backwards glance, Raven carefully pushed all other thoughts and idle emotions out of her mind, which was difficult due to the building pressure behind her eyes, and focused - really _focused_ - on the Red Hood's trail.

It took her a few seconds, but she managed to locate a faint, yet quickly moving force surrounded by what felt like, to her - also because of the headache - an ocean of bitterness and anger, only this amount of emotion was much stronger than that of the Caped Crusader's.

Focusing as best she could, Raven turned away from Batman and Beast Boy and began her pursuit of the Red Hood, keeping her eyes peeled and her senses on high alert - or at least, she tried to be on high alert, but the pressure pounding against her skull was making her feel like her head was going to burst - but of course, Raven ignored this, and kept on going, getting closer and closer to the Red Hood's emotional ocean of dark, twisted emotions that she didn't even want to go near.

This night wasn't going to end well.

Raven could feel it in her bones.

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~ x ~

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**A/N: review? :3**


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